Parliament FC eventually made it to the next round of the Eddie Hart Football League (EHFL) after they beat RSSR 5-1 to register the four clear goals which they needed to edge ahead of Trincity Nationals on goal difference in Group B.
Five-time champions Parliament entered their final group game at the Eddie Hart Savannah (EHS) in Tacarigua last Thursday night with nine points, and needed to either win by four clear goals to finish second in the group or by three clear goals to force a playoff with Trincity Nationals.
However, on Thursday evening at the EHS, Parliament wasted no time in achieving their objective, racing to a 5-0 lead at half time.
The former champs took full advantage of a 10-man RSSR squad that included a makeshift goalkeeper to dominate the first 40 minutes.
A fighting RSSR side, who eventually completed the first half with a full compliment--including their first choice keeper--managed to net early in the second session to create some anxious moments for the Parliament bench and supporters.
Laventille-based RSSR almost added to that anxiety when they came very close to making the scoreline 5-2 at the death, but they were denied by a brilliant body block by the Parliament custodian, who did not have much to do on the night. Anthony Guppy and Garth Jacobs netted braces, while Jason Cudjoe knocked in the other item for the winners.
Trincity Nationals (12), who also failed to make the cut in the last campaign, could still go through to the next round as one of the two best third-place finishers.
As it now stand in Group C, Paradise FC (11 points, with one game to still to be played), CAPS, who completed their fixtures with 11 points, and Pacemakers (seven points), who have a couple of matches outstanding, are battling it out for second and third places in the group.
The scenario is that if Pacemakers--who beat El Do Milan (nine points) 3-1 in their last outing--win their final two games, they will finish with 13 points and that will secure their spot in the next round.
On the other side, should Paradise win their last match, they will claim second spot in Group C and a qualifying berth with 13 points, while Pacemakers will earn third position if they win their last two.
CAPS' best bet to make it to the last eight is for Pacemakers to suffer a setback in of one of their last two encounters. They lost their final game of the round stage to Paradise2-1 last week Thursday.
The clubs already qualified for the next round are MAASH International and Santos FC (Group A), Spain Slappers and Parliament (Group B) and Bon Air FC (Group C). The games carded for Saturday and Sunday were not played because of the tropical storm warning.